


it might not right now (but it's gonna hurt soon)

by blondsak, seekrest



Series: Whumptober 2020 [6]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: (are you even surprised at this point?), Angst with a Happy Ending, BAMF Peter Parker, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Hurt Peter Parker, Hurt Tony Stark, Kidnapping, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Post-Spider-Man: Far From Home, Protective Peter Parker, Worried Tony Stark, but certainly not compliant, defenestrating canon as per usual, we put the boys through it in this one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-25
Updated: 2020-11-11
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:54:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27197437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blondsak/pseuds/blondsak, https://archiveofourown.org/users/seekrest/pseuds/seekrest
Summary: “If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that with the right amount of pressure, anyone can be broken,” Beck says with relish. “And I have a feeling that Pete isn’t going to be too happy when I reveal exactly what he’s done to the poor, damaged,oh so heroicmentor he’s been giving the cold shoulder for a week. The guilt will eat your precious Peter alive, if everything goes right. And everythingwillgo right this time.”Once again Tony tries to maneuver the bulky armor but its movements are out of his control. Which means he’s nothing more than a helpless bystander right now—a pawn for Beck to use against Peter for his own nefarious purposes.“Almost showtime, Stark,” Beck says giddily into his ear. “Gonna be one hell of a finale. I do apologize in advance that you won’t be here for the encore. But hopefully you’ll enjoy the show before exiting stage right.”Inside the suit, Tony silently screams.
Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: Whumptober 2020 [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1954963
Comments: 140
Kudos: 252





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Bean_reads_fanfic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bean_reads_fanfic/gifts).



> Happy birthday dearest!!! We love you ❤️❤️
> 
> Prompt: Disorientation

Tony wakes up to trapped darkness. His own breath ghosts against his lips, and he can feel his cheek pressed into the side of his helmet, sense his fingers encased in gloves.

His first foggy, half-awake thought is that he must have passed out in the Iron Man suit during a fight—but no, that can’t be right. 

Because Tony hasn’t been in an Iron Man suit since the day he was dying on the battlefield—heart stuttering out as Pepper, Rhodey and Peter’s faces swam in and out of his field of vision—nearly ten months ago. 

Also, nearly a year isn’t long enough to forget his own tech, and this just… isn’t it. For one, it’s unyielding—Tony trying to move the gloved hand of his good arm only for the suit to have no give. For another, it doesn’t fit his body right, like it was built for someone bulkier and taller than Tony. And yet, what else could it be if not one of his suits? Tony isn’t sure he wants to know the answer.

 _FRIDAY?_ Tony tries to call for the AI, just in case—only to mouth _shit_ when not even the faintest trace of his artificial voice echoes out from between his lips. So his electronic larynx—custom designed and built by Rhodey using FRIDAY’s tone recordings of Tony about two weeks into his recovery, and his only way to speak since his vocal cords had been so severely damaged during the Final Snap—had been taken off his neck.

It’s fairly dark wherever he is, which makes it hard at first to see the mysterious suit helmet’s transparent HUD, but once his eyes adjust he can make out a large cavernous room, with a wooden floor and rafters, many of which look like they’re rotting. An abandoned warehouse, probably by the docks, by the damp smell of things.

The last thing he remembered before this was being at the lake house and sitting out on the back porch with a cup of coffee and his tablet when suddenly everything in front of him had gone warped—the scene of the tranquil lake twisting into nothing but a bunch of blobs of color that had had him falling to his knees with dizziness. He’d had just enough time to wonder if his coffee had been spiked before he’d passed out and then… and then. He’d woken up here.

So, to sum up: Tony’s trapped in a suit not his own, his voice box is missing, he’s been left seemingly by himself in an abandoned warehouse, and he was almost certainly drugged before being transported here.

It has all the classic signs of a kidnapping, and while Tony has had lots of villains declare themselves his enemy over the years, there’s only one that’s been on his radar lately.

His fears are confirmed when a slimy voice he had hoped only to ever hear again from inside a prison cell spoke up through the suit’s comm.

“Hello Stark,” Quentin Beck said with no small amount of condescension. “Welcome to my theater. I’m happy to say the admission for an honored guest such as yourself is free—that is, besides your enthusiastic participation. It’s an interactive show, after all.”

 _You smarmy asshole,_ Tony seethingly mouths, wiggling fiercely as he tries to work his way out of whatever he’s stuck inside.

“Oh, Tony. Poor, poor Tony. You can try to break free but it’s no use,” Beck says after a few moments. “I’ve got you good and trapped in there, I’m not sorry to say. Aleksei may have been a complete dimwit, but the man did manage to create a very powerful suit before I, shall we say, took it off his hands. If it makes you feel better, he was as happy about that as I imagine you are right now.”

 _Aleksei?_ Tony thinks, only for his eyes to widen when he realizes who Beck must be referring to. Aleksei Sytsevich hadn’t been on the NYC streets more than a few years, but he had clashed with Spider-Man enough times for Tony to know that the man—or at least his tank-like armored suit—wasn’t to be underestimated.

If Beck got this equipment from Sytsevich, then that means that Tony isn’t just stuck in any suit. He’s stuck in _The Rhino’s_ suit. _Shit._

But why? What reason would Beck have to toss him in here? Unless–

“Not much longer to wait now. Your precious Peter is on his way here as we speak,” Beck says conversationally, as if they’re discussing the weather. “I can’t wait to see the kid again, though it’s only been a month. He’s just so damn _endearing,_ isn’t he, Stark? So earnest and hopeful… a regular Dudley Do-Right. You must be so proud of him. I mean, even as my entire plan was exploding before my eyes over the Thames, even I couldn’t help but be a tiny bit proud of the little shit. After all, we certainly did our fair share of bonding in Europe. Giving him advice on the roof, being a team and fighting together, only for him to hand me those glasses of yours, having no idea the true power they held. Speaking of which, someone needs to get that Skrull a medal for being so incredibly inept as to give them to the kid without double-checking with you first!”

Beck laughs, Tony clenching his jaw so tight his teeth grind.

“Oh, and I’ll never forget the look on his face right before that train barreled into him. Fuckin’ deer in headlights, bulging eyes comics shit, that was. Those were the good times, Stark, lemme tell you.”

 _I’m gonna kill you,_ Tony thinks, struggling all the more to get out of the suit. But it’s no use—he’s trapped.

“So, Stark, I hope you understand that even although this _is_ incredibly personal, I do genuinely like Pete. Had you not survived being a complete dumbass who nearly let Thanos destroy Earth a second time only to send over your little superhero buddies to cover the kid’s ass nine months later, I bet he and I would have ended up good friends. Teammates on the Avengers, even.”

_Peter would never have fallen for that shit for long with or without me, you arrogant prick._

“Anyway, enough of me reminiscing over how much better life would be if you had died when you were supposed to. Gotta let bygones be bygones and all that jazz, right? I think at this point even Pete agrees, despite that little dust-up you two had last week.”

 _What the hell do you know about it?_ Tony wants to ask, but even through the haze of his current fury, he feels a tinge of regret pull on his damaged heartstrings at the reminder. Because it was true—the kid and him had had a giant fight the week before, and hadn’t spoken since. Beck was partially responsible for that, as the conflict had centered around the fact he hadn’t been captured yet, and Tony’s fear that the deranged man would make another attempt on Peter’s life.

But there was no denying that Tony was wholly responsible for his own reaction to the situation—not wanting Peter to go out as Spider-Man until Beck was behind bars, ideally on the Raft. Peter, of course, hadn’t taken too kindly to the suggestion, and what Tony had intended to be a calm conversation quickly turned fierce as both their tempers boiled over.

They’d kept going at it in the lake house kitchen until Pepper had come in—herself understandably irritated with both of them for letting things get so out of hand—and told them to take it outside if they couldn’t stop shouting. Which was right when Peter had announced that there was nothing more to be said as long as Tony wasn’t taking away his suit _again._

Even in his anger Tony hadn’t been so stupid as to throw down such an explosive ultimatum, and following his silence Peter had promptly stormed out, getting back in the used Corolla that May and Happy had bought him for his birthday and driving right back to the city.

Tony had tried calling twice since then, but Peter had yet to answer or call back. And so even though it was hard—he and the kid hadn’t gone more than a few days without speaking since before the plane crash, as long as you didn’t count when Peter had been dead—Tony had forced himself to give the kid space, trusting that they would work things out before long. 

He hadn’t ever considered that Beck would go after him to get revenge on Peter before that could happen—had sincerely believed that he was safe out at his secluded, FRIDAY-secured haven. 

It had been a stupid, _so incredibly stupid_ assumption, Tony realizes now. Because Beck might be crazy but he wasn’t a total idiot. He knew how to manipulate—how to go right for the jugular of a person, both physically _and_ emotionally.

And once again, Tony is pretty damn certain he knows what Beck has planned—terror crawling up his throat at the thought of what it would do to Peter, if Tony was right. 

It doesn’t take long for Beck to confirm his worst fears.

“You’re a smart man, Stark. I’m sure you’ve put things together by now,” Beck continues, sounding as righteous as ever. “Peter is on his way here to save you, but who is he gonna find? The Rhino, of course. And who will he think is inside the suit? Well, that’s the real question, isn’t it.”

Tony silently yelps as just then the suit suddenly powers up and takes two steps forward, the mechanical arms raising into a fighting stance. 

“If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that with the right amount of pressure, anyone can be broken,” Beck adds with relish. “And I have a feeling that Pete isn’t going to be too happy when I reveal what exactly he’s done to his poor, damaged, _oh so heroic_ mentor he’s been giving the cold shoulder for a week. The guilt will eat your precious Peter alive, if everything goes right. And everything _will_ go right this time.”

Once again Tony tries to maneuver the armor but its movements are out of his control. Which means he’s nothing more than a helpless bystander right now—a pawn for Beck to use against Peter for his own nefarious purposes. 

“Almost showtime, Stark,” Beck says giddily into his ear. “Gonna be one hell of a finale. I do apologize in advance that you won’t be here for the encore. But hopefully you’ll enjoy the show before exiting stage right.”

Inside the suit, Tony silently screams.

* * *

He’s not sure what’s worse — waiting for Peter to arrive or the shot of terror that flows through him when he does.

“Here he comes,” Tony hears Beck’s smarmy voice whisper through the suit, fear and fury pulsing through him in equal measure as he tries to use the suit arms to back away. 

It’s useless now just as it was useless when he woke up, stuck in a mechanized suit of armor totally out of his control. His heart feels like it’s leapt up to his chest—its murmur seeming to pound in double time—when he sees Peter swinging into the warehouse, perched on one of the railings as his head whips back and forth, no doubt using Karen to scan the environment. 

When he sees Tony - _he doesn’t know it’s me_ \- his shoulders tense, flipping off the railing and landing on the floor below him in a crouch. His arm extends behind him in a defensive posture as Peter calls out, “Where is he?”

 _I’m right here_ , Tony thinks and wishes he could say - Beck’s voice echoing out from the suit.

“Good to see you, Peter. It’s been a little while.”

Tony watches as Peter stands up straight, hands curling up into fists as his body tenses even more.

“Where. Is. He?” Peter asks again, Tony instinctively wanting to take a step back but being immobilized - _feeling_ the tightly controlled rage emanating off of Peter.

“Now, now, now, we talked about this, Pete. You’ll get what you came for as soon as you give me what I want,” Beck says through the suit, the eyes of Peter’s mask squinting as he tilts his head.

“Where’s Alek?” Peter asks, Tony’s eyebrows shooting up in confusion only for the realization to dawn on him that Peter knows who is usually in the Rhino suit just as he does. 

But any chance of Tony hoping that Peter would connect the dots that it’s _him_ in the suit are lost when Beck says, “Indisposed. Figured we needed a little chance to chat.” 

The arms of the Rhino suit move of their own accord, the full scope of what Beck was planning all falling into place just as Peter seems to recognize it too - coming to the right conclusion that it wasn’t Aleksei in the suit but the wrong one in assuming it was Beck. 

_Come on, kid. Get out of here_ , Tony thinks - watching as Peter takes a step back only to seemingly brace himself. 

“I’m not asking again, Beck,” Peter spits out, the bitterness and anger in his voice so clear that it sends a chill down Tony’s spine. “Where is Tony?”

Beck laughs, the Rhino suit moving of its own volition again in a mocking, laughing gesture - only for the suit to double over, Tony frantically trying to move the arms and legs in an effort to stop what’s about to happen but being painfully unable to.

“You‘ll have to go through me first,” Beck snarls, remotely moving the Rhino suit into a crouch before barreling forward, charging straight towards Peter. 

Tony’s not surprised to see Peter leap into the air, but is taken aback - literally - when he does a flip and sends out a web to the helmet of the Rhino suit, catching onto the horn and bringing him straight back down to the ground on his back.

Tony was banged up over and over in the Iron Man suit for over a decade but this is a different kind of pain, hissing as the helmet snaps back against the pavement and Peter flips back into view.

“You really want to do this? I beat you before, I’ll do it again.” Peter says as the suit moves up and out from the ground - the eyes of Peter’s mask widening a little when the Rhino suit is easily able to cut through the webs that pulled it down.

It makes all the sense in the world why Beck had taken a month to carefully plan and exact his revenge now, that thought confirmed when Beck says, “ _Did_ you now? I seem to recall a different scenario in Berlin. How is that little girlfriend of yours? MJ, was it?”

Tony’s eyes widen in disbelief when he sees the metal underneath Peter’s fingers bend as he launches himself to the ground, the Rhino suit just barely moving out of the way as the floor of the warehouse shakes.

“You leave her the hell alone,” Peter says, the venom in his voice undeniable. He immediately moves to send webs out towards Rhino - _towards Tony_ \- tactically aimed to hit at his arm and his leg.

Tony knows from surveillance that the Rhino suit weighs over 700 pounds, but Peter yanks it back as if it was nothing - Tony flying through the air and towards Peter who moves out of the way only for Tony to hit the opposite end of the warehouse.

It knocks the wind out of Tony, his vision blacking out a little but he’s not the one in control of the suit - Beck’s voice taunting the kid as he says, “Oh I’m just getting started, Peter. Getting rid of your _Mr. Stark_ was only phase one.” 

The Rhino suit moves again, Tony trying to focus his vision as he glances around the inside of it for some kind of failsafe or way to signal to Peter that it’s him in the suit and not Beck, only for Beck to make the Rhino suit stand as he says in a voice that drips with confidence and honesty, “But you’ll never find his body.”

Tony hears the yell that erupts from Peter, feeling a terror grip him not solely because of the danger that Peter’s in - but the danger that _he_ is.

The whole reason Tony walked into Peter’s life all those years ago was because of an interest in his strength - powers and abilities that endlessly fascinated him, only for him to come to realize over time that the true power rested within the person underneath the mask. 

Fighting one-off villains before they got sent off into space, even fighting Thanos - Tony’s always been aware of the sheer power Peter has and trusts how capable he is in a fight.

But it was one thing to watch Spider-Man through a digital screen, or occasionally team up with him and fight side-by-side as they had for months up until Titan. It was a whole _other_ experience to be on the receiving end of Peter’s power, to see firsthand what it was like to be the one the kid was focusing all that enhanced energy at.

Certainly, this firsthand experience was leaving no doubt in Tony’s mind about what Peter could and would do if pushed to his limits. He can only watch helplessly as Peter sends a web up to the ceiling and swings forward - kicking Tony back into the wall before sending another fist to the helmet of the suit as he yells.

All the arguments Peter had flung against him at the lake house come rushing back to the forefront of his memory as Peter throws out another punch, the Rhino suit moving to grab at Peter’s neck only to miss when Peter easily deflects it - gripping the mechanized arm and flinging the Rhino suit down to the ground once more.

Peter could handle himself - in more ways than one. Even if he was on the receiving end of this beat down, each punch slamming his head against the inside of the suit and _feeling_ the bruises already forming as Peter sideswipes the Rhino’s leg - Tony couldn’t help but feel a simultaneous surge of pride and shame that he’d ever doubted Peter’s abilities and worse, made him feel as if he didn’t trust him. 

Beck maneuvers the suit to its side in an effort to get it standing once more, only for Peter to hurtle another blow straight to the chest, Tony feeling his side take the force of the punch as the suit’s metal casing collapses inward—the sharp pain leading him to think two ribs might have even cracked from the impact.

But even through the agony of his new injuries mingling with the familiar pull of his old ones, Tony can’t help but focus now only on Peter—Peter, who even through the mask looks absolutely wrecked. Tony watches as he takes fast, wet breaths only to scream a rage-filled, wordless cry directly into the Rhino’s faceplate.

The armor is on its back now, Tony feeling so close yet so far from Peter as the teen lifts his right arm up, his hand in a tight fist and his bicep shaking from anger, adrenaline and what Tony can only think is no small amount of crazed grief. 

_It’s not your fault, kid. I’m sorry. I love you. I’m sorry._

As the fist starts to come down—aimed straight to the temple—Tony closes his eyes in resignation, a tear falling. He can only hope that when he is dead and Beck finally reveals the full truth of things, Peter will have the presence of mind to save himself. 

But the blow never lands. Instead there’s a choked gasp, Tony opening his eyes after a few seconds to see Peter’s fist floating just inches from his head. He glances up only to realize the mask’s lenses are as wide as he’s ever seen them.

Peter’s jaw drops a little bit once, twice, before he flings himself slightly back from where he’s looming over the suit—just enough to shift his fist into an open palm as he moves it to rest on the armor directly over Tony’s heart. Peter stares down at the splayed fingers for one beat, then two, before looking back up into the Rhino’s faceplate and taking a shaky breath.

His tone—which had only moments before been loud and aggressive—is now tiny and disbelieving but so full of _hope_ as he barely manages to whisper the name that’s on the tip of his tongue.

_“Tony?”_


	2. Chapter 2

Tony's heart - already pounding what feels like a thousand beats per minute - goes into overdrive when he sees the eyes of the mask widen, only for it to feel like it's leapt into his throat when Peter rips off the mask.

It's a hell of a gamble for Peter to take off his mask yet there it is - Tony putting two and two together just as Peter seems to when his mask is off, a conviction forming across his features at the knowledge that it wasn't Beck in the suit.

The stress and the adrenaline and the fear of knowing what Peter would look like under the mask was more than enough to weigh on Tony but to see the tortured expression in Peter's eyes takes the wind out of him - eyes red and brimming with tears as he watches Peter readjust the hand on the Rhino chest a bit more firmly, eyes dancing back and forth before closing as he says, "Tony, can you hear me?"

Tony's still trapped in the suit, time starting to move in slow motion as his mind processes what exactly this revelation means - just as he can see Peter's expression shift from relief to panic to guilt in milliseconds.

He already knew that Peter would feel an overwhelming guilt when he found out that he had killed him, one that Tony had only hoped that would be alleviated in knowing that there wasn't anything he could do that would make Tony ever not forgive him.

Yet that almost pales with the reality before him of how broken Peter looks in that moment, going from grief and anger in the chance that he had lost him only to come to grips with the fact in real time that he had almost been the cause of it.

The worry and fear of what this will do to Peter's psyche is immediately disrupted with the fear of what Beck will do when Tony struggles against the suit's mechanism, the hand of the Rhino suit moving once again without his permission as it goes to grab at Peter.

Peter has impossibly fast reflexes yet he's either too stunned, too shocked or too deep into wallowing in his guilt to deflect it this time around - Tony desperately wishing with everything within him that he could scream out to Peter and tell him to run away as the Rhino suit's arms violently clench at Peter's throat and push him off.

What hurts Tony more in that moment isn't the cracked ribs that he feels, the soreness of his limbs or the pain in the back of his neck from being rattled around - it's the easy way that Peter allows himself to be thrown back, almost pushed off of Tony like he's been burned only for rage to flow through him when Beck's voice calls out.

"Ah kid, why'd you have to go and ruin all the fun? You know a show's only as good as the performance."

"Where are you?" Peter spits out, the anger that Tony had seen on display not minutes before now back in full force - written all over Peter's face in the tight way he clenches his jaw and the harried look in his eye.

"Far, far, far away, Peter. There's no use trying to find me. You think I'd be so much of an amateur as to make the same mistake twice and create an illusion that you could break through?"

Beck's laughter sounds like nails on a chalkboard as it rattles around his ears, only for his stomach to drop when Beck says, "But the good news? I still have the chance to break you."

Tony is a smart man, a genius by most human measures and even some intergalactic ones. But the weight of Beck's words don't sink in until the Rhinos suit moves into a stand and Tony watches in horror as Peter's expression shifts from anger to terror to resignation in a matter of seconds.

No, Tony thinks just moments before the Rhino suit barrels towards him - Peter flipping out of the way only for the Rhino suit to grab at his foot. Tony winces as Beck slams Peter to the ground, making an indent in the concrete floor beneath them from the sheer force of it as Beck laughs.

"Come on Spider-Man, I thought were going to have a little fun," Beck taunts, only for his voice to shift internally to where only Tony could hear as he says, "I'm not a betting man, Stark, but I'd bet my life that Peter's down for the count."

 _Kid, come on. Fight back_ , Tony wants to scream - struggling once again in vain against the grip of the Rhino suit as he hears Peter cough out, stomach twisting up into knots as he sees Peter shake his head and move into a stand as he says, "I'm not gonna fight you. Let him go."

"No deal," Beck says, Tony feeling like he could vomit from the way the Rhino suit rallies forward - Peter scrambling up and out of the way just in time as Beck cackles.

"You're not going to be able to run forever, Peter. Not when I'm the one in control of your precious Mr. Stark."

Peter's eyes widen just as the suit seems to activate something, Tony frantically looking around as the HUD in front of him shows a countdown for a self-destruct sequence.

"What--" Peter coughs, standing up straighter, "What did you do?"

Beck doesn't answer at first, Tony frantically trying to move again as Peter calls out, "What the hell did you do?"

"Set up a little accountability," Beck smarmily replies, Tony seeing the countdown right in front of him, "Either you fight me, right here and right now, or I blow this warehouse down using good ol’ Aleksei's suit as the bomb."

Get out of here, Tony pleads to Peter in his mind - already knowing it's in vain as Peter grits his teeth and spits out, "Why?"

Beck laughs again, Tony seeing the terror and determination in Peter's face give way to desolation when Beck says, "Because I can."

Beck uses the Rhino suit to propel him forward once again, Tony's heart beating in double time when Peter doesn't move an inch - the full force of the Rhino suit slamming into him so hard that Tony can hear what sounds like bone crushing as the metal hand comes forward and hooks across Peter's face.

Peter goes down, spitting up blood and crawling just as Beck uses the Rhino suit to grab his leg - dragging him back to him only to lift him up and slam him back down.

"FIGHT ME!" Beck yells through the Rhino suit, Tony shaking his head in disbelief as the Rhino suit grabs Peter by the neck once more - lifting him up so that his face is right on level with Peter.

It's been seconds and yet already Peter looks like he's been beat to hell - his right eye black and blue, his nose broken and blood streaking across his mouth and chin.

Tony's unsurprised but no less horrified when Peter says, "No."

Beck yells through the Rhino suit, enough for Tony to panic at how unhinged it sounds as the Rhino suit squeezes at Peter's throat.

He knows from only minutes before that Peter is more than capable of fighting his way out of the Rhino's grip, could lay him out in ten seconds flat and get the hell out of here. But Tony knows Peter, knows that look in his eye and the determination in his expression.

Beck may have thought that he had laid down some kind of ultimatum to force Peter into fighting with him, but Beck - for all his plans, all his ideas, all his thoughts - fundamentally misunderstands the kind of person that Peter is.

Tony knows that Peter won't fight because Tony's in the suit, just as he also knows Peter won't leave considering the self-destruct sequence that Beck has threatened to trigger.

What he does know is that Peter's not going to give up without a fight. Tony can only hope that Beck doesn't kill him in the process.

"You little shit! FIGHT BACK!" Beck yells, screaming through the Rhino suit as he slams Peter into the ground once again. He doesn't let up on his grip, just as Peter doesn't really make an effort to get out of it - Tony's gut twisting into knots at the look on Peter's face and the recognition that he likely didn't want to inadvertently do anything that would hurt Tony more than he already has.

 _Come on, Pete_ , Tony thinks to himself in vain, already knowing that there was nothing he could do or say to stop Peter from the path that he's on. Beck yells again, slamming Peter into the ground once more before grabbing him by the neck and flinging him off across the warehouse towards where the open docks were - Tony's heart beating even faster at the cracks his impact causes.

He wants to throw up when he sees the blood smeared around it too.

Peter wheezes before coughing, the Rhino suit stalking up to him as Tony struggles again and again.

"You would actually die rather than fight back? You'd let your precious Mr. Stark die? For what, Peter?" Beck snarls, the Rhino suit moving to punch him again only for Peter to finally - finally - leap out of the way and out the open door towards the docks, Beck growling as he follows after Peter.

Tony knows Peter is just as durable as he is strong but it causes his insides to pretzel in terror at seeing how beat to hell Peter looks, his right leg twisted at a sickening angle as he crawls away from Beck.

Beck for his part is laughing, the sound so smug and filled with hatred that it makes Tony regret ever being a part of Peter's life - wondering what he could've done to prevent this man from ever using Peter as a means of getting back at him.

"Peter, Peter, Peter. To think we could've been friends. I didn't want to hurt you in Berlin, it wasn't personal."

Tony silently screams as Beck crosses the distance to where Peter is, the haggard wheeze Peter gives as the Rhino hand grips him from the neck once more and brings him up to eye level.

"It’s personal now," Beck says, his voice sending a chill down Tony's spine as he watches helplessly - wondering if the bruised and bloody face that he sees in front of him will be the last memory he has of Peter, only for the kid to cough and say something under his breath.

Beck catches it just as Tony does, bringing Peter closer as he asks, "What was that?"

Peter's teeth are bloody, his nose broken and one of his eyes swollen shut. Yet Tony can see the smirk on his face as Peter coughs once more, splattering some blood across the Rhino arm before he says, "Made you look."

Tony's confused just as Beck seems to be, but neither gets the chance to respond when Peter shoots some kind of web, gravity losing meaning when the rotting wood planks beneath them shake then give way - plunging the two of them into the cold water below.

Tony hears Beck screaming in denial before the Rhino suit completely short-circuits, not having been designed to be waterproof. Now dead weight, the suit quickly sinks, only to land hard on its back in the weeds of the river bottom, broken pieces of wood plinking against it as they land in turn before everything goes quiet again.

Water leaks into the suit at a steady rate, Tony barely having time to take one last breath before he’s out of oxygen. He remains trapped, dead in the water both figuratively and perhaps all too soon literally as he stares up at the faint light of the sky tens of feet above. He doesn’t see Peter anywhere, can only hope the kid got out of the river safely. 

Soon enough his lungs begin to beg for more air, Tony closing his eyes and waiting for the inevitable. He’s just about to let go when the suit is suddenly viciously jerked, Tony opening his eyes again to see Peter’s determined face only inches away, tearing the suit’s welded seams open with his bare hands. 

As soon as he finishes with the front of the suit he flings away the faceplate, wasting no time as he grabs Tony by the shoulders—his body jerking both from the force of the kid’s grip and from the water now entering his lungs against his will—and pulls his mentor up and away, kicking hard toward the surface.

As soon as they hit open air Tony starts to cough, rancid river water coming up his throat and dribbling out of his mouth. He’s still gagging a bit when Peter hoists him up over the broken dock edge and onto concrete, before climbing out himself and falling down next to him, both of them gasping like fish.

As soon as Tony has his breath back he gets up onto his arms and knees, crawling over to Peter who is still laid out, eyes closed. Concerned, Tony pats his cheek and after a few moments the kid opens his one good eye, peering up at him with a dazed look as he continues to cough.

“Well, that s-sucked,” Peter stutters out, only to cough all the harder, Tony sitting him up so he can hit the kid’s back in an effort to dislodge what liquid is left. He freezes however when he looks over at Peter’s face, seeing instead an actual _pool_ of dark blood in Peter’s palm from all his hacking. 

“Oh. Tha's not good,” Peter rasps, another weak cough escaping him just before his eyes roll back into his head—Tony catching his torso with a silent grunt before he can hit the concrete, adjusting the kid’s head so it lays in his lap. Even unconscious, Peter continues to wheeze, and Tony looks around desperately for someone—anyone—that might be able to assist them. 

The fact that Tony can’t physically scream means he is left to scream in his head, trying to steel himself to the fact that he will have to leave Peter and run for help—hating that the only way to save the kid would be to leave him alone, passed out and defenseless.

Just as he’s about to gently set Peter down and start the long jog away from the abandoned docks and back into the city, he hears it—the familiar and all-too-welcome sound of mechanical wings in the distance.

Tony looks to see Sam, Bucky hanging around his waist with his metal arm as they gently land next to him.

"Shit, kid. What’d you get into?" he hears Bucky say, Sam assessing the situation as the wings retract - kneeling down and putting a hand to Peter's side, Tony belatedly realizing that there's an open wound.

Tony has dozens of questions but no way of asking them, feeling more helpless than he thinks he ever has in his life as Sam and Bucky work in tandem with each other - Sam directing Bucky to alert the medbay before turning his attention to Tony.

"It's gonna take too long for them to get here so I'm gonna have to do some triage work here," he says, nodding towards Bucky. "Are there any other issues we need to solve right now?"

Tony just shakes his head, any lingering regret or hurt long gone - all his focus on Peter and the horrible wheezing sound he's making.

"Tony."

Tony looks up, seeing the kind but firm look in Sam's eyes as he pointedly looks down to where Tony's hands are still braced against Peter.

"Let me take him," he says, Tony loosening his grip as he nods. Sam nods once in acknowledgement before his hands work like the professional he is - slinging the backpack he has over his shoulder and getting to work on solving the most manageable injuries.

Tony's eyes are focused on Peter, trusting Sam immensely with his capacity to work but finding that he's incapable of pulling his attention away - still reeling from the possibility that Peter had nearly died in front of him. Had nearly died to save him.

"Tony, hey," he hears Bucky say, looking at him briefly only to hold his gaze when he sees the determination in it. "Are there any other issues we need to solve? Where's that Beck asshole?"

Tony shakes his head again, focusing back on Peter - the laundry list of injuries so abundantly apparent that it makes Tony wonder how Peter had even been able to walk, much less pull him up from the water.

He handled it himself, Tony thinks but is incapable of saying. He looks back to Bucky and shakes his head more firmly, only for Sam to glance over and look him up and down.

"Buck, check him out. I think he's got a concussion. Leaning a little too hard to the side," he says before turning his attention back to Peter. Tony can hear Bucky asking him about his injuries, the pain in his ribs and the ache he feels in his chest incomparable to how he feels at staring at Peter.

Tony may have been right there with him, but the kid had done it all—the fighting, the problem-solving, the saving—on his own. He shouldn't have had to, but he’d done it all the same. 

And if—no, _when_ —Peter recovered from this, Tony wasn't going to let that undeniable truth be forgotten for a moment.

And especially by himself, most of all.

* * *

Twenty-seven hours later, Tony sits with Peter in his medbay room. He watches as the kid’s fingers and eyelids twitch a few times before he blinks himself awake. He stares up in confusion at the ceiling for a few seconds before his eyes go wide, the beeping of the heart monitor jumping as he starts to sit up.

“Tony–”

“Right beside you, kid,” Tony says, having gotten his hands on one of his back-up electronic larynxes just before he himself had been treated by the medbay staff for various contusions, a concussion and two cracked ribs. 

He was banged up, sure, but still he'd been way better off than Peter who—on top of countless external injuries—had been suffering from massive internal bleeding, something that Tony had anticipated out on the docks but hated having confirmed all the same. It didn't matter that Peter's enhancements more than assured he'd heal just fine after just minimal medical intervention and lots of rest—it never got easier to see. 

“Are you okay?” Peter asks, eyeing Tony only to grimace at the bruises on his temple and along his cheek. 

“Nope, we aren't doing that today, Pete,” Tony says, voice light but tone serious. “No self-imposed guilt trips allowed for either of us. Aunt’s orders.”

Peter rolls his one good eye playfully. “Where is May, anyway?”

“In the lab with Pepper, going over possible leads on Beck,” Tony replies, then raising an eyebrow, “How come you never told me she worked as a private investigator before moving into nonprofits?”

“Didn't come up,” Peter answers with a shrug. “You should ask her sometime about how she met Uncle Ben though. He was just a rookie cop at the time… it’s a really funny story.”

Tony smirks. “Let me guess, she solved his case for him in about two seconds flat.”

“Less than two seconds, actually,” Peter quips back, smiling. “Sergeant Davis nearly offered her Ben’s job on the spot. But instead of getting pissed, my uncle asked her out for dinner at Prachya Thai.”

“Smart man.”

“He was,” Peter says, still smiling. But his grin falters slightly a few moments later. “Listen, Tony–”

“Nuh-uh,” Tony interrupts, waving a hand. “What did I just say?”

“Despite her rule, I'm pretty sure May’d agree apologizing is also important,” Peter points out. 

Tony sighs. “So we're already doing this, huh? Not even going to ask about your injuries, or when Michelle is getting here, or anything?”

“Or anything,” Peter says with a smirk. 

Tony shakes his head. “Okay, well, in that case—no apology needed, underoos.”

“What?” Peter exclaims. “But I stormed out, ignored your phone calls, beat the shit out of you—how can you just forgive all that? And don't use my getting hurt as an excuse for you letting me off the hook. We both know it shouldn't be.”

“Quite the opposite, actually,” Tony says, Peter raising a curious eyebrow. “But first thing first. Beating the shit out of me was definitely not your fault. Beck, and Beck alone is responsible for that. _Capice?”_

Tony waits for Peter to nod his agreement before continuing. “As for the rest, you were frustrated with me, and reacting to feeling like you weren't being heard. Which as Pepper and Rhodey will tell you, isn't exactly the first time I've had trouble with the idea that someone I care about is entirely capable of taking care of themselves.”

Peter looks down at his hands, chewing on Tony's words. “It did feel like you didn't think I could look after myself.”

“And that's where the opposite of you getting hurt comes in, kid,” Tony says, leaning forward until his elbows hit the edge of Peter's hospital bed and steepling his fingers under his chin. “Seeing you in action today, even when it was me getting tossed around like a loose punching bag—well, it sorta put things in perspective. You're a badass, Pete.”

“Yeah, some badass,” the kid grumbles, voice dripping in sarcasm. “I didn't even think about how it could be a trap. I nearly killed you!”

“But you didn't,” Tony points out plainly. “Instead you not only figured out that it was me in the Rhino suit, but you also managed to come up with a plan to save both our derrieres. If that isn't badass, I don't know what is, kid.”

When Peter doesn't answer—continuing to mull over his mentor’s words—Tony adds, “Anyway, my point is—I think I've been underestimating you, maybe for a lot longer than I want to admit. Hell, you were a badass on Titan too.”

Peter’s lips turn up. “That was a pretty cool fight, before the whole we lost part anyway.”

“We nearly beat Thanos thanks to you. Would have, if David Hasselhoff Junior hadn't gotten distracted.”

Peter huffs out a laugh. “Maybe.”

“Not maybe, definitely,” Tony corrects him. “What I'm trying to say, Pete, is that I shouldn't have tried to bench you from patrols like I did. It wasn't fair of me, not after how you've proven yourself in the past.”

Peter looks up at him finally. “You were just worried about me. I get it.”

“I was, but that's still not a good reason not to at least try to have an actual conversation and see if some compromise couldn't be found. Instead I opted to get angry when you didn't just agree.”

“You were being kind of a jerk,” Peter allows after a few beats of silence pass. “But I could have reacted better too. Can we just agree we both could have handled it better and then, y'know, actually do that from now on?”

Tony smiles. “It’s a deal.”

Peter leans back in his bed again, looking more relaxed. He's staring up at the ceiling when he says, “So what’s the plan now? I know you and May have one.”

“The plan is for you to heal, then head back out on patrol when you feel up to it.”

Peter glances at him, skepticism apparent. “That's it?”

Tony shrugs. “Sam and Bucky are gonna be at the Avengers HQ in Brooklyn, so they'll be close by if Beck makes a move and you need back up.”

“And what about you?”

“Pep, Little Miss and I will be bunking here while I add some upgrades to Fri’s lakehouse programming, but eventually we’ll head back there too.” Tony pauses. “Then when you eventually catch Beck, we’ll, I dunno, celebrate with shawarma and churros.”

Peter shakes his head, smirking. “Is this really you talking right now? I'm not in one of Beck’s illusions, right? Or you're a Skrull? Oh my God, you’re a Skrull!”

Tony narrows his eyes. “And you're a little shit, but what's new?”

“You just sound so different than you did last week,” Peter explains. “Not that I'm complaining, but you just seem so… confident, or something.”

“What can I say, kid?” Tony replies with a fond grin. “I believe in Spider-Man.”

**Author's Note:**

> We love it when people scream at us in the comments. Come hang out with blondsak on tumblr: [blondsak](https://blondsak.Tumblr.com)


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